What's An Artist?
Well, what do YOU think? What's An Artist? Someone who draws pretty pictures? Can someone who doodles still be called an artist? Do you have to have instruction to be an artist? Can you be born with the talent to be called an artist? Looking for opinions!!! Please don't go to a dictionary-we all can do that. Please leave your opinion in the comment box and I will add them to this wiki! Feel free to be expressive! Be an artist with words, too!
~[*Phoenix*]
Featured Wiki for November 11, 2008. Thanks, [Ramirez]!
Wiki Nominations.
Have you ever wondered, What's An Artist? Ever pulled out the dictionary and then read the definition for ‘artist’ and just knew you had a much better explanation for it? Then this is the place for you to discuss what you think an artist is. Read other members thoughts about what they think, and if you don’t agree, write your own!
Taken from http://www.dictionary.com/ searched "artist".
Dictionary.com-Unabridged (v 1.1)
art·ist/ˈɑrtɪst/–noun
1. a person who produces works in any of the arts that are primarily subject to aesthetic criteria.
2. a person who practices one of the fine arts, esp. a painter or sculptor.
3. a person whose trade or profession requires a knowledge of design, drawing, painting, etc.:
a commercial artist.
4. a person who works in one of the performing arts, as an actor, musician, or singer;
a public performer: a mime artist; an artist of the dance.
5. a person whose work exhibits exceptional skill.
6. a person who is expert at trickery or deceit:
He's an artist with cards.
7. Obsolete. an artisan.
Synonyms
Artist, artisan are persons having superior skill or ability, or who are capable of producing superior work. An artist is a person engaged in some type of fine art. An artisan is engaged in a craft or applied art.
American Heritage Dictionary
art·ist/är'tĭst/n.
One, such as a painter, sculptor, or writer, who is able by virtue of imagination and talent or skill to create works of aesthetic value, especially in the fine arts.
A person whose work shows exceptional creative ability or skill:
You are an artist in the kitchen.
One, such as an actor or singer, who works in the performing arts.
One who is adept at an activity, especially one involving trickery or deceit:
a con artist.
Do you have a wiki of your own work here on Elftown? Well add the link to Artists' Work. You will be given an pretty invitation once you are on this page!! So fire your opinions away!
Feel free to check out the article that inspired this wiki! http://painting.about.com/od/careerdevelopment/a/Are_U_Artist.htm
Goal: 75 comments
[Total Comments: 55]
YAY! We hit 50 comments on 8-24-09! Let's hit 75 now!!!!
The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim. The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things. The highest, as the lowest, form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty. The moral life of man forms part of the subject matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium. No artist desires to prove anything, solely longs to express creativity. No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style. No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything. For it is the artist who creates art. And art is always, first and foremost, art. ~Oscar Wilde~~[
Linn Scarlett]
[
Khronos Atmosphaera] ~ [
xX Doomed Vampire Doll Xx] ~ [
Teufelsweib] ~ [
Urmando The Elfling] ~ [
Cia_mar] ~ [
Kahri] ~ [
Kuruni] ~ [
Mordigen] ~ [
sequeena_rae] ~ [
iippo] ~ [
Tingis] ~ [
nehirwen] ~ [
deeterhi] ~ [
Isfet] ~ [
Morningstar Rising] ~ [
stuffAEAmade] ~ [
Grimmloch] ~ [
Iske] ~ [
jaraden] ~ [
Zab] ~ [
smakeupfx] ~ [
Jeccabee] ~ [
Coffeecontrolsme] ~ [
Dark Side of the Moon] ~ [
wicked fae mage] ~ [
kyuuketsuki-chan] ~ [
Deus Ex Taco] ~ [
moira hawthorne] ~ [
Kuramasgirl] ~ [
Alexi Ice] ~ [
Daisy_Sandybanks] ~ [
Anvikit] ~ [
pegasus1000] ~ [
Veltzeh] ~ [
One] ~ [
Duke Devlin] ~ [
Anvikit] ~ [
GothAngelPrince] ~ [
Tekkon KinKreet] ~ [
guest101] ~ [
CrystalHeart] ~ [
Doormat] ~ [
Nocturnaliss] ~ [
Artsieladie] ~ [
philfish696969] ~ [
guest101] ~ [
Silasire] ~ [
blood_fairy21] ~ [
~Crimson Angel~] ~ [
NOOOPE] ~ [
Pnelma Tirian] ~ [
hanhepi] ~ [
Hendercrazy] ~ [
Flisky]
Thanks for making this possible and a success for me! I feel so blessed! ~ [*Phoenix*]
1.[
*Phoenix*]
An artist is someone who sees the world differently...
.They can be anywhere, at anytime, and anyone. If you can take a simple thing and make it creative and much more interesting so that people enjoy it, you should call yourself an artist....
2.[Khronos Atmosphaera]
An artist is someone who takes the time to sit down and vividly think of a way to express themselves. This of course, could lead to a wide range of things, from simple pencil drawings, to massive architectural structures. And there is so much more in between those possibilities. But whatever the outcome of the created the art, one can only hope to show the viewer that particular artist's thought.
3.[xX Doomed Vampire Doll Xx]
An artist is a person who sees beauty in everything, and nothing.
4.[Teufelsweib]
An artist is someone who makes art. :3
5.[Urmando The Elfling]
What makes an artist....an artist? For me it is; He/she is able to get in touch with the creative plane of existence.
From the moment an inspiration or idea reached his/her mind, an supporting creative energy will help the artist to bring this idea into our world.
This energy is very addictive for an artist. (would call it: PASSION)
And to express this idea will be done in so many way's, mostly in drawing, painting, sculpting, designing, by computer etc, etc...
Artists are visionaries who makes the world a better place, who constantly renew the world around us.
Look around you, everything you see, which is man made, started in the mind of an artist first....
6.[Cia_mar]
An artist...hmmm well I actually think that there are two kinds of artists, there are those who are born with the passion to express and create, and innately have the ability or abilities in which to produce some kind of representation of feeling or imagination in a way that can be experienced by others.
Then there are those who are interested in art, and learn the techniques either by school or researching in which to advance their skills.
Both kinds of artists are still artists, but I think that the passion that Urmando speaks of is felt more strongly in those that feel the need to do something artistic because of the innate ability that they possess...and in reality, there are times when that innate ability possesses us, rather than the other way around.
7.[Kahri]
An artist is someone who can create something from anything or nothing. Artists can show or tell people what they see in something, how they perceive it, what they believe to be beauty, or what they see in general. To some, it is a search of perfection of detail, others, to show the emotion of creating, but in the end, if they create it in some way, they are artists.
8.[Kuruni]
An artist is the person who can express the way he perceives the nature of his or her existence. I see an artist like a prism, projecting life through him or her mind by the use of different tools, objects and media. An artist is a sensible soul with a gift from the universe to recreate life, dreams, illusions, hopes and fears with his or her unique way to adapt and transform material or himself/herself to open a window to an unrealistic or realistic world. It applies to music, photography and other kinds of arts.
There have been moments when i believed that all kinds of arts transforms into an alternate world or universe. If you believe we have been made in resemblance of our God, then we must have the gift of creations in our own little scale, by using our mind, will and skills.
9.[Mordigen]
Anything can be an art form, and those who can see that are truly artist -- no matter if you have never picked up a paint brush, camera, or written a single sentence in your life. Art is not just one thing, its the way you view life, and use it to your will. The way you dress, the way you walk, the way you tie your shoes, your over-dramatic exotic garden, that finely prepared smoked salmon, the strum of an instrument, voice, or the flow of movement in the wind. A political statement, and out-reach message, Anarchy in action, or humility of the beauty of nature. Whatever way you want to view yourself, whatever way you want to view this world -- it is all art, by someone's standards, by someone's view, it is all beautiful, everything around us is a work in progress, and we are all artists in existance, creating our masterpiece by living, breathing, and simply being.
10.[sequeena_rae]
Everyone is an artist. No matter the level of talent.
11.[iippo]
Artists are kinda like interpreters. They interpret the world around them, their society, their inner workings, etc... and translate those things into a language (whether that language is a visual language music/writing/acting etc...) And they can discuss things in their language that would be hard to talk about in a normal language; they can notice things others wouldn't notice and talk about that through their art, sharing what they've noticed. They start conversations and discourses, many of which conversations stretch across centuries. Being an artist has nothing to do with skill, talent, or virtuosity.
But I do believe it does take education to become an artist, and I base this solely on comparing myself to myself (what I understood before I went to art school and what I understand now after) - and not on judging anyone else. I don't mean simply learning technique and skills, but intellectual stimulation, understanding and most importantly, contextualization (that is, knowing your field and knowing where you are within it; knowing what has been done and how what you do is different and worth doing; knowing your peers' work).
12.[Tingis]
An artist can lose himself totally in his work, forgetting all around him. It's like a rush, and very addictive :)
13.[nehirwen]
Artists are people who're not afraid to express themselves, and put lots of effort in their creative activities. They want and try to know themselves inside out, be themselves as much as they can be, in according to express themselves in a way they truly are.
14.[deeterhi]
An artist is a person who looks at the world with open eyes. They see things for what they are, and they question them through the use of imagery, symbolism, and the likes. Art is their language through which they try to understand and find deeper meaning in life.
15.[Isfet]
An artist is not an instructed person; anyone can be taught to draw. Anyone can be taught to paint or color, that has no baring on if a person is an actual artist. An artist is a person who sees something in their mind, and creates. An artist is a person who can create something that captures that mental image... something symbolic or straight forward, it doesn't matter. Art has meaning, it isn't just something done as an assignment like in schools. That's why I don't want to go forward into an art career, because I feel when I'm forced to do something it loses its passion. An artist isn't just someone that draws, I think. I believe an artist covers all levels of the imagination - ranging from drawing to writing. All are creating something unique and intriguing to the mind, something emotional and fantastic.
That's an artist.
16.[Morningstar Rising]
An artist to me is someone who can look at the art of others and see the beauty in it. To me art is like music, the colors are the notes, the strokes are the sounds, the finished art piece is the symphony. Art is like life, it changes every day and with it so does our perspective of it. Art is beauty, art is joy, art is sadness, art is pain, art is love, art is life. Well that's what art is to me.
17.[stuffAEAmade]
Anyone who flexes some imagination and creativity is an artist. :3
18.[Grimmloch]
Every human is an artist. Show me a human that cannot create a thing of beauty. Art is to us as air is, without it, we are dead.
19.[Iske]
An artist is someone ...who can show you a world/place you can only dream about, ... who can show you the world you live in today ; ... who can show you a world that doesn't even exist but just by looking at her/his work you are living it.
20.[jaraden]
Every human is innately artistic, whether that be visually, musically, vocally etc. I don't think I've ever met a single individual who wasn't good or at least apt at one of those mediums.. i think we as humans are a creative race which is just one of many things which set us apart from the animals, but whereas the others might make us superior, the arts make us wondrous.. the ability to create or imagine beauty or inspire others is i think our greatest asset and trait!!! the end.. KAH-POW!
21.[Zab]
An artist is someone that creates :P Doesn't really matter what they create.
And some artists are really, really bad, but they're stil artists. x)
(which reminds of the question ''can you ride?''..well, if you can sit on a horse (''riding'') you can ride.. but it takes a lot more before you can ride very well ;)
22.[smakeupfx]
An artist is someone who makes art, it doesn't have to be "good" art, but the intention must be to make art. (seven years of art theory talking LOL)
23.[Jeccabee]
An artist is someone who has a vast imagination and has the desire (not necessarily the ability) to express it in some form.
24.[Coffeecontrolsme]
An artist is anyone that excells at expressing their imagination physically
25.[Dark Side of the Moon]
Artist - someone with a God-given desire, whether born or learned, to express freely upon any medium the innermost desire and emotion of the soul.
26.[wicked fae mage]
An artist is somebody who tries expression through projection of thoughts through an activity that invigorates their soul~Nikki
27.[kyuuketsuki-chan]
An artist is someone who has an imagination and can express it in various ways.. in my opinion.
28.[Deus Ex Taco]
An artist is someone who has a vast imagination and finds a way to express that imagination. Whether it be through physical, mental, or technological means. In essence, anyone or anything that has free thought is an artist.
29.[moira hawthorne]
An artist is someone who communicates beyond words. It's not the tools; it's the artist that defines the artistic endeavor...
30.[Kuramasgirl]
An artist is someone who attempts to interpret the world around them and in themselves and the emotions and feelings in a moment of time.
31.[Alexi Ice]
An artist is someone who sees something in nothing. A person who uses emotions to their advantage and who utilizes a number of mediums to create something by channeling those said feelings. Art can be taught, but the ones who are born with the natural ability to see 'The light in the dark' are the true artists; the ones who did not learn, but instead began creating the minute the urge to create hit them. Artists are people who fuse their bodies and souls in order to make, re-make, draw, paint, write, create, sculpt, mold, shatter, destroy, snap, dance, sing and capture the essence of our world through whatever medium necessary due to an excessive need to express ourselves. Artist are gods on a human plane with the ability to create something that did not previously exist and to mold and play with the fabric of reality and bend it to our wills. Art is the thing that separates us from the un-educated masses; the complete ability to control the elements, medians, and utilize our mind, bodies, and souls to act as one and make something whether it be from nothing, whether it be good or bad, whether we meant to do it or whether it was accidental. Art is an express form of life, one that gives us the unique ability to see the beauty in our ugly world.
32.[Daisy_Sandybanks]
An artist is a person who creates from within. A person who has the mindset to be creative in any possible way.
33.[Anvikit]
A person with the will to portray to others what they see on the inside. They strive to leave their mark on the never ending path of the creative. They are risk takers never knowing where or when the next brush stroke will fall in the minds of those who view it. The dreamers, like all the rest, with the desire to share it.
34.[pegasus1000]
An artist is a person who sees the world in a unique way, a person who imagines a new world, a person who tries to portray their world, and a person who shares their world with others.
35.[Veltzeh]
Well...I agree with the dictionary definitions!
36.[One]
An artist is someone who asks questions, a philosopher...someone who sees the world as something to learn and teach from, a person uncontent with the world they are in.
37.[Duke Devlin]
An artist is someone who puts effort into something they do. It needn't be with paint, clay or even written words - anything can be art. An artist is the creator.
38.[Anvikit]
An artist equals me plus more motivation :p
39.[GothAngelPrince]
Well, an artist is someone who has a creative mind; doesn't matter if they are good at painting or drawing or anything like that.
40.[Tekkon KinKreet]
An artist is anyone that picks up a pen or pencil or brush etc and puts something on anything. Even tagging is art in my opinion.
41.[guest101]
Artist is an identity, which most of us are proud to bear.
42.[CrystalHeart]
An artist is someone who has figured out how to put their emotions onto a piece of work that others can identify with and understand.
43.[Doormat]
Irrelevant:
Jack Handey: The wise man can pick up a grain of sand and envision a whole universe. But the stupid man will just lay down on some seaweed and roll around until he's completely draped in it. Then he'll stand up and go: Hey, I'm Vine Man.
The artist man paints this.
44.[Nocturnaliss]
An artist is a creator. Someone who lets their imagination take them away, wherever it may lead them, and who bring back souvenirs from their creative journey for all to experience.
45.[Artsieladie]
Artists to me are many things. They possess a yearning, a need, to express, not only their own thoughts, emotions and feelings, but also of others that leave an impression of some sort on them, either positive or negative, lesser or greater. Artists are like sponges in many ways, because they soak up what is around them and then create from how they process it. Regardless of their medium, they can forge a renewal of something, capture the essence uniquely of something, or they can also build on and create from basically nothing. Artists can be the world's greatest flatterers, but they can also expose, address, that which many wish wouldn't be. Artists not only create from inspiration derived from an infinite number of possibilities, but artists can also instigate inspiration in others as well. A true artist is more about creating from their passion of creativity than they are about some sort of technique or style set down by others for they create and follow what's within them and in the process they invoke and instill their own style and technique that is uniquely expressed of them.
46.[philfish696969]
If you can create something that produces a feeling in someone than you're an artist. Whether that feeling is hate or love. Seriously if Marcel Duchamp's Fountain can be considered art then we all could be considered an artist if we wanted to be. No natural talent needed just to be considered an artist. Now a fine artist that's another story.
47.[guest101]
Artists are the ones who know how to smear the canvas with their broken hearts.
48.[Silasire]
In my experience an artist is anyone who can convince people that are willing to listen that they are an artist. This is generally done by no other display of skill than persuasion.
The contemporary art world generally uses the word "artist" quite freely, this is derived from "con-artist" few people know that the "con" is silent.
49.[blood_fairy21]
An artist is a dreamer who lets the world see their dreams. An artist is one who is brave enough to put pen to paper. An artist is willing to put their heart and soul in to their work whether it will be accepted by others or not. Artists aren't afraid to share their vision with the world and let their imagination run free. So raise your pens and brushes, your paint and computers....All the tools of the artist because without our vision the World would never change.
50.[~Crimson Angel~]
To me an artist is someone who can see beauty in everything they see, even the tiniest of things and can capture that beauty not only in their minds but on a canvas or in a picture as well so others can see the beauty.
[Yay! You are #50!]
51.[NOOOPE]
There are multiple ways to define art, and therefore, there are multiple ways to define an artist. Nearly everyone here is defining art by its broadest terms. Basically, what everyone is saying is that every creative endeavor is art, so anyone who is creative is an artist. However, I find this to be too broad, too flowery and not all that realistic. When you tell someone you’re an artist, they ask what kind of work you do. If you answer, “I am a creative soul. I see beauty all around me, I sloppily copy anime art,” they are going to raise their eyebrow and inch away from you. When someone tells me they’re an artist, what I expect them to be saying is that they are a person who specializes in the field of art, just like a musician specializes in music, or an author specializes in writing. So, if you’re a person who specializes in art, YES training and talent are required. There are standards in art. I mean, in my opinion, someone who doodles now and then is as much of an artist as a person who hums to themselves is a musician. When we’re talking about a real artist, we’re talking about someone who has devoted their life to art. It’s their driving force and these flowery broad definitions people are using...too broad. You can’t put an imaginative fast food worker in the same category as Mondrian or Poussin. Art is a profession. It is a life long struggle. If you make art as a hobby, and are pretty good at it, I’m sorry. You’re artist-IC, but you can’t call yourself an artist. You’re not your side hobby. I act every now and then, but I don’t tell people I’m an actor. I sing every now and then, but my God, would my opera singer friend DECK me if I went around saying I was a vocalist. They have colleges dedicated to this stuff for a reason, folks. I’ve studied art for 9 freaking years. It is so deep, it is so complex, subtle and mind fucking...I’m sorry. Efltown is 99.9% hobby artists. Don’t tell me what an artist is. I sound like a douche, I know. Your flowery definitions are correct in their own ways. Art is an elusive term. But strictly speaking, if you say you’re an artist, you make visual art. And not only do you simply make it, you make it well enough that it can be your vehicle in life. It’s your profession. That’s an artist. I’m not paying thousands of dollars a year to attend an art college to continue drawing doodles and discuss how pretty things are. If you guys haven’t had the training, you have no idea. Art is hard. Not everyone can do it, and… saying every creative person is an artist really takes credit away from the real artist out their who have busted their *butts* off and are really good. Just puttin’ it out there.
52. [Pnelma Tirian]
An artist is someone who can connect a concept--an experience, an idea, an emotion--to an audience through a visual medium. The deeper and more profound the connection, the more successful the artist.
53. [hanhepi]
An Artist is someone who makes Art. Not every drawing or painting is Art. In order to call it Art, I think it has to evoke a feeling, and “oo, pretty” is not a feeling. And I think in order to be an Artist, you have to be capable of manipulating feelings on a somewhat regular basis, and you have to have an audience willing to be manipulated. One painting that makes one person feel an emotion is not enough to make you an Artist. If your One painting makes hundreds feel an emotion, you are getting closer. But in order to be an Artist – that capital A title most of us here strive for – you have to be capable of producing repeated Works Of Art, not just one. Not every Con Man is a Con Artist see...only the best earn the Artist title. It's the same for those of us in the branches of Art, be it music, painting, drawing, photography, sculpture or any other medium, but not everyone Skilled is an Artist. If you put it in Botanical terms, calling everyone who can make something pretty an Artist is like saying everything leafy and green is a Tree. Not everyone who cooks well is a Chef. Not every whore in Japan is a Geisha. Seeing Beauty doesn't make you an Artist... replicating Beauty doesn't make you an artist. Making others see Beauty in something that is Ugly, or making others see Ugliness in something that is Beautiful, that's art. An Artist is someone who manipulates people... gets them thinking in new directions, gets them to see what they want them to see.
I don't believe you have to have years of training to accomplish that, but you'd have to be damned lucky to get it right without it. The training merely teaches you the tools and how to use them, you have to have have some innate talent to use them effectively enough to become an Artist. Now, those tools are worth learning, color theory and composition and perspective and all the rest are highly important, and can help you manipulate your audience on a regular basis, but they can't teach you the Talent part, otherwise everyone with an art degree would be a famous Artist the second they graduated. The training doesn't make you an Artist any more than making something pretty makes you an Artist. You couldn't swing a cat without hitting an Artist if that were the case. It's the way you use the tools, the way you manipulate people with your chosen medium, and your ability to do it repeatedly that makes you an Artist.
54. [Hendercrazy]
An artist is someone who channels a multiverse of expressive vision(s) and thought(s), based upon their experience(s) of either reality and/or fantasy, through a multitude of various medium(s).
55. [Flisky]
An artist is any person who has the ability to say to themselves "I feel like making something today" and follows through on it. Someone who can communicate without speaking, can paint without a canvas, and can compose without instruments.
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